Stephen Bray doesn’t like it, but accepts the reality that, when people talk about Leinster contenders, Meath are a distant third at best.

Dublin’s iron grip on the province over the past decade or so has been met with little sustained resistance from a single county.

Meath may be the only ones to have beaten them in the province since 2004 but that was an isolated triumph.

Laois and Wexford have had their moments against Dublin over the years but now it’s Kildare that are seen as the team most likely to beat them.

As the only other Leinster county in Division One, it’s easy to see why Kildare are touted as the side most likely to overturn Jim Gavins’ Dubs, with Meath having spent this spring loitering in Division Three.

“I suppose that’s probably a reflection on us at the moment,” admits Bray in terms of the Dublin-Kildare clash on June 30 being billed as a provincial decider.

“Sometimes it’s hard to take because we’re the ones that are here at the moment and that’s how the team is being perceived and how we’re being judged.

“We have to try and change that. It probably is fair but sometimes that’s judged on League form as well. I think Kildare are a strong team and I think they’re going to give Dublin a very good game.”

Kildare emerged from the shadows in Leinster at a time when Meath seemed poised to put their stamp on the province again. And Bray was at the heart of it. In 2007 he had an outstanding season, winning an All-Star, as Meath recovered from an first round replay loss to Dublin to reach the All-Ireland semi-final.

But he’s endured a terrible run of injuries, mostly hamstring related, since while Meath struggled with consistency amid a raft of managerial changes.

“It’s been frustrating. In 2007 I hadn’t one injury. It was just a really clean year. But look, these things happen.

“As I’ve said to people before, when you’re playing at this level, you’re pushing your body to the limit. The body sometimes breaks down. It’s kind of the nature of the game at the moment.

“The last few years have been a bit frustrating. Just when I was maybe getting into decent shape, the hamstring was giving me a bit of trouble.

“Once you pick up an injury coming close to Championship you’re playing catch up because everyone is getting that bit sharper as the year goes on.

“But you just have to try and deal with that as best you can and try and keep plugging away. Try to get yourself right, as such.”

He’s had a reasonably smooth run into this evening’s Championship opener against Wicklow in Aughrim, with Meath folk quietly confident that they can sneak into another Leinster final this year.

“We just have to focus on Wicklow and that challenge,” adds Bray. “If we have any aspirations of winning Leinster we have to really step it up.

“Wicklow is our first challenge and then we move on hopefully after that. But, again, we’re not looking past Wicklow. It’s going to be a very tough challenge down there,” he said.